Promises
by Ariella
Summary: My second Tamora Pierce fic, takes place in an alternate timeline where the Immortals War was lost. D/N Please R/R!


Disclaimer: I own Jailyn, no one else. I'm just borrowing them for my own purposes. So don't sue me! (I couldn't pay you anyway!)  
  
What if the Immortals War hadn't been won? For the purposes of this story, the gods controlled Uusoae, but the mortals lost...  
  
Jailyn Morgathsri leaned out over one of Castle Edeyn's towers, red-gold curls whipping around her face. She was looking for someone, and had been all morning without a trace. Now it was nearly noon, and her lesson was due to start. Green eyes flashed with irritation as the twelve-year old surveyed the desolate scene below.  
  
Fief Edeyn had been deserted, it's Lord and Lady killed. The few survivors of the immortal attacks had fled to the castle, where they managed to eke out an existance. Jailyn was one of the orphans adopted by the town - one of the many whose parents had been killed early on in the war. The townspeople fed and clothed them when they could, and the rest of the time they ran, half-wild, throught the abandoned town. Jai had joined the flight to the castle for one reason - the storyteller was there.  
  
The storyteller had shown up in the town soon after Jai's mother died, when she was eight. When asked his name a shadow passed over his eyes and he replied, "Just call me Lankin." The townspeople were puzzled, and slightly hesitant. After all, calling oneself after a bandit wasn't a good sign. But he seemed innocent enough, and so they said nothing. Soon after he arrived, Lankin surveyed the children of the town and determined which ones had the Gift, offering to train them. jai was one of the few picked, and it was for Lankin she was searching now.  
  
Something tugged on a lock of Jai's hair, and she spun around shrieking defiance and reaching for the knife at her belt. Her quarry was disappointing - Lankin's mocking, dark gaze stared at her from across the tower. "You shouldn't be up here, Scrap." Jai glared and tossed her curls, annoyed as much from the fright as the use of the nickname.  
  
"Neither should you. I could've gutted you." Lankin smirked and headed down the stairs.  
  
"Nothing's going to eat me, Scrap." he called back over his shoulder. "Too bony. C'mon, you're late for your lesson." Jai rolled her eyes in frustration and followed him off the tower.  
  
  
Meanwhile, in the Realms of the Gods...  
  
Veralidaine Sarrasri, now known as the Lady of the People, woke up very confused. "Numair?" she murmured. A second later a mocking smile flitted across her lips. "One would think, after four years, I'd be used to it." she mused. She'd been living with her parents since Uusoae had been contained and she'd been told how devastated the mortal realm would be. Somehow Sarra and Weiryn convinced her she would be of more help to her friends as a goddess - a link between humans and the People. Now she was hitting herself for it. She remembered how happy Numair had been with her decision. He'd promised to visit on the holidays, and she could watch him in her mirror. But after a week the mirror just blanked out when she tried to see him, and he never arrived on the holidays. Daine knew he wasn't dead - she'd checked with the Black God himself. That knowledge had kept her sane for the past four years, that, and his promise.  
  
  
Back at Fief Edeyn...  
  
Jai and the other Gifted students sat cross-legged in a circle with Lankin, who was teaching them meditation. Jai was trying, but found it difficult - she had a limited attention span, and her heartbeat was so loud! Irritated, she shoved the noise from her mind, willing it to stop, until she heard Lankin shouting, "Magelet! Wake up!" Her eyes flew open and she sat stunned as the other students stared. Lankin sighed and explained that when they silenced the /sound/ of their hearts, they silenced their actual hearts as well. Then he dismissed them, realizing that no other work would get done that day. Jai started trudging out of the overgrown courtyard that served as a classroom, but Lankin called her back. "Scrap, wait a moment." She paused, poised to flee, and Lankin sighed again. For the first time, Jai realized that Lankin wasn't old, despite the white streaks in his hair and his lined face. "I'm sorry if I frightened you. You were in danger, and it was the only way to wake you quickly." Jai nodded and Lankin turned away. She moved toward the exit, then paused.  
  
"Lankin? Why did you call me Magelet?" Lankin froze, and Jai panicked. "I'm sorry!" Slowly Lankin shook his head.  
  
"Don't be." he replied hoarsly. Jai realized with shock that he was crying. "That's what I called another student of mine who did the same thing."  
  
  
In the Realms of the Gods...  
  
Daine stormed back into her room after another fruitless arguement with Weiryn and Sarra. They patiently explained that first, as a new goddess, she couldn't leave Weiryn's lands; second, they, as her parents, forbid her to go; and third, that Mithros himself forbid her to cross between the realms. Daine stalked to her mirror and snapped, "Numair! Show me Numair!" She stood, fists clenched, as the mirror blanked out. Tears ran down her face and she shouted, "Arram, then! Arram Draper! Please, I need him!" The mirror remained stubbornly blank. Sobbing, Daine sank to the floor, her head in her hands. "I love him..." she whispers. When she raises her eyes again the mirror has formed an image, and she stares in shock. Numair, hair streaked with white and tears pouring down his lined face, was on his knees as a young girl gingerly tried to comfort him. Daine reached out and touched the mirror, hope written across her features. "Numair." Eyes never leaving the image, she yelled for her parents. She was going to the mortal realm - and no one had better try and stop her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N - Ok, so review now! Was it ok, what did you like/not like, any feedback is greatly appreciated. I've had this idea forever and it was just begging to be written! To any readers of "Untitled - Anyone have any ideas?" my muses deserted me for a while, but they're back so the next chapter should be up soon. Thanks!  
  



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